Drawing Dead by Kelly Parks | Script Revolution

Drawing Dead

"Six poker pros tricked into a game of Texas Hold'em with The Devil must win or die."

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Page Count: 
85pp

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Synopsis/Details: 

Poker professional Tony Smith arrives at the mansion of a reclusive billionaire to play a private game of Texas Hold'em. He finds other poker pro's -- some friends and some not -- already there, along with the billionaire's assistant who will play in his boss's place.

The prize is $50 million, but you have to sign a contract that says losers forfeit their souls. The players convince themselves it's a psychological trick to put them off their game. But one by one players eliminated vanish and meet a horrible fate, as shown on the TV in the poker room.

The devil himself is watching and the "assistant" is a demon.

Three players remain: Tony, his best friend Cowboy Jack, and the demon. Jack tries to escape, making the demon angry and leaving Jack severely injured. The demon decides Jack needs to survive to finish the game and gives him a shot of Hell's Whiskey. Instantly healed.

When the demon is eliminated Tony and Jack are disappointed it doesn't meet a terrible end like the others, until the demon points out it's down to the two of them, which means one of them will keep his soul and the money.

Jack goes all in on shit cards, leaving him drawing dead. Tony wins but asks Jack why he sacrificed himself. "I got my reasons." As Jack heads for the exit he grabs the bottle of Hell's Whiskey.

Jack finds himself on a windy street in a western town facing a gunslinger. But drinking as much of the whiskey as he can allows him to survive his "fate" by turning him into a hellish monster.

The demon tells Tony to take his money and leave, so Tony tells him he renounces his winnings and exercises the escape clause, which he knows about because he's signed a contract for his soul before. That's how he became the world's greatest poker player. And the escape clause gets him out of all contracts he signed. He'll be a shit poker player now but he gets his soul back. The demon is in a lot of trouble.

The demon finds himself in a western saloon as the creature Jack has become walks in...

All Accolades & Coverage: 
I'm Kelly Parks, former stand-up comic and current filmmaker/screenwriter. I've sold two screenplays and had two others optioned. I've also done well in many contests, including winning the TrackingB screenplay competition and making the semi-finals of the Nichol with a horror script. Drawing Dead (85 pages) has received excellent coverage on the Black List (6's to 8's). From the review: "DRAWING DEAD is packed with horrifying blood and gore, delivering shocking and disgustingly awesome deaths. It utilizes the always-popular premise of a group of people who've been invited to a mysterious mansion with an unknown host, while creatively throwing a high-stakes poker game in to the mix."
Submitted: August 1, 2021
Last Updated: November 9, 2021

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The Writer: Kelly Parks

I'm America's only ex-CIA rocket scientist stand-up comic writer/director. By which I mean I'm a former aerospace engineer, a former professional stand-up comic, and a current computer programmer/filmmaker. My short sci-fi/horror film "Universal Dead" (starring Doug Jones, THE SHAPE OF WATER, HELL BOY, PAN'S LABYRINTH) won the grand prize at the LA WebFest. Other short films include "The Crusader" (comedy), "Work Related" (dark comedy), "The Complaint" (sci-fi/comedy), and "Demon Protocol" (horror). All can be found on YouTube. Two scripts sold, two others optioned. I wrote 10 feature screenplays so far. Contest results include: Winner, TrackingB screenplay comeptition Winner, International... Go to bio
Law Firm: Kaye & Mills
Lawyer: Kevin Mills

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